Dive Industry Association, Inc.

Success Is Just Executing a Good Plan
by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Memorial Day is behind us and the traditional Scuba Diving season has begun.  All of the industry’s pre-season marketing campaigns have ended and hopefully our work will pay off.  The fate of the 2017 Diving Season is now in the hands of the front-line industry professionals.  If we have done our job correctly, the Dive Retailers, Boat Operators, Resort Destinations and Instructors should have a good year.

With the season underway, industry planers are starting to think about next year.  Of course, we still have to get through the DEMA Show in November but that is really part of this year’s planning, which should be well underway for many exhibitors.

There are a number of good shows and events on the docket for 2018.  To get the best prices and the best results from our pre-show, at-show and post-show efforts, we are planning now and ready to execute our plans in a timely manner.  The Dive Industry Association will be exhibiting at four shows and attending and marketing a dozen more.  Our non-profit Dive Industry Foundation is not only exhibiting at a number of shows but are working with a number of show producers and exhibitors to help make their shows more successful.  Part of that success is based on solid planning and timely execution.

The Dive Industry Foundation has been asked to advise on the Scuba & H2O Adventure Show in Tacoma, Washington on April 20-22, 2018.  Although the show is ten months away, a lot of planning needs to take place to make it the world-class event it is promising to be.  We are working with all components of the show; Attendees, Presenters, Sponsors, Advertisers, Exhibitors, Volunteers, Staff and Show Management.

Putting a show together is a lot of work but it is not Rocket Science.  What has helped me tremendously is looking back on the company that built our swimming pool four years ago.  On the first day of our meeting, the builder sketched out a rough draft of the type of pool we wanted. He added and deleted options as we discussed them and added things he knew would be needed.  At the end of our first meeting he had a clear idea of what we wanted.  After reviewing our needs and budget, Paradise Pools was ready to make a solid estimate on the cost of the pool, the materials that were needed and time it would take to complete the pool.  After our second meeting, the builder knew what he needed to know.  In his mind’s eye, he could see the process from start to finish. He already knew what the pool would look like when it was finished.  How did he know that?  Because he had done this many times before.  It wasn’t his first rodeo!

I learned a lot about building a business from that experience.  For 52 days I photographed and video taped the pool building project and shared the progress with my facebook friends.  On any given day 30-50 people tuned in and experienced the daily success of the project and yet, none of us knew exactly how or when everything would come together.  But the builder knew ever since the second meeting.

I am hoping the Scuba & H2O Adventurer Show in Tacoma will turn out to be the world-class event we are planning it to be.  However, it is going to take more than good planning and execution.  It’s going to need the excitement and participation of the diving community in the Northwest United States and Southwest Canada.  I am confident that will happen.

As we work on all aspects of this event, i.e. Attendees, Presenters, Sponsors, Advertisers, Exhibitors, Volunteers, Staff and Show Management, we will share the progress with the diving community.  Hopefully, like my pool project, we’ll all see the show come together right before our eyes.

If you would like to be a part of this event, contact Gene Muchanski at gene@diveindustry.org

It’s All Part of the Master Plan
by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

One good thing about being in the diving industry for over 40 years is that you have a lot of time on your hands to reflect and a lot of data to reflect upon.  I can’t think of a down side, except that some younger people might say “That was then, this is now.”  To that I’ll just say that people who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.

Most of my career in the diving industry has been in strategic planning.  Having a diverse background in diving and the business of diving, I have been fortunate to work in the Training, Travel, Retail, Manufacturing  and Media Sectors of the Industry.  The most useful information I ever gathered was how our customers and competitors think.  If my employers could know just one thing, it was always how could they be one step ahead of our customers and competitors.

And guess what?  When you figure that out, you write it down and formulate a strategy to capitalize on it.  In the process, you learn from your successes and failures and you continually refine the process, all along doing more of the stuff that works and less of the stuff that doesn’t.  You learn from other people and you copy what works for them and you shy away from things that didn’t.  You ask your customers what they want and you do your best to give it to them.

So, is there a Master Plan for the Diving Industry?  Yes, there is and it’s based on what the market is asking for and how some suppliers are responding to their needs.  Notice that I said “some.”  It’s based on a natural flow of seasonality curves and customer purchasing patterns.  It’s based on having the right products, at the right price, at the right time, for the right audience.  It’s about building a market for the present and the future.  It’s about growing an industry.

Not all suppliers agree on a “Master” Master Plan.  Based on their own organizational needs and target customers, they choose to pursue their own plan in order to best achieve their own desired outcomes. The best defense against this type of competitor is to be part of a Master Plan that has the best interest of the market as its guide.

Companies working together toward an Industry Master Plan tend to use words like “integrated marketing” instead of “marketing campaign”.  They tend to work well with other companies instead of “having their own thing.”   They tend to donate to industry non-profit organizations instead of just their own organizations.  They also tend to be transparent in their dealings with other industry professionals instead of meeting behind closed doors.  They tend to be “inclusive” rather than “exclusive.”

Companies working together toward an Industry Master Plan have greater advantages due to an expanded horizontal network whereas companies that are vertically integrated loose a great deal in new ideas and synergy.  What’s good for each company individually is also good for the entire industry when working towards common goals.